Structural steel derrick



P. YORKE.

STRUCTURAL SIEEL DERRICK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28. ms.

1,306,793. lulvntvd June 17, mm.

ramcx 10mm, or wean moron, riimssYLvamA.

STRUCTURAL-STEEL m-mmcx.

lpectflcatlon of Letters 2mm.

Patcnted June. 17, 1919.

Application fled Bcpumber 28, 1918. Serial No. 258,048.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK Yoaxs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Structural-Steel Derricks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanymg drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in structural steel derricks, for use in drilling oil, gas salt, and Artesian wells, although equally applicable for mining shafts,

hoists, and other towers generallyt and it has for its primary object an improved structure of this character, the arts of which are so formed and arrange that they may be quickly assembled and disassembled without puttin in or taking out a bolt.

To t 086 familiar with the art to which this invention appertains, it is well known that in drilling gas wells for example, it is unnecessary to leave the derrick permanently erected over the well after it has once been drilled, and consequently it is n desideratum to provide a structure that can be erected and dismantled at a minimum of cost and quickly, and with comparatively little labor; hence my invention aims, in one of its asccts, to attain this result and to proride an 1m irovcd derrick or similar structure which will ossess to a maximum degree the suscepti ility of being erected and dismantled expeditiously, and without the use of special tools and with vcry little labor.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, thc. invention consists in ccrtuin constructions, arrangements, and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter more fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following' description and accompanying drawing, whcrein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a derrick embod ing my improvements.

Fig. 2 is an on argcd fragmentary view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken approximately on the line 3-3'0f fiig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view, the section being taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2, and 1 Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the bolts employed to securely, but detachably, connect the parts together as will be hereinafter more specifically described.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following descri :tion and designated in all of the views 0 the accompanying druwin by like reference characters.

11 descn ing the invention in detail it is to be home in mind that the embodimentof the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, is for the urposes of illustration only, and hence on y the vertically disposed portion of a well drilling derrick or similar structure is shown, the dril ing rig being purposely omitted as unnecessary to a full understanding of the present improvements.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the base of the derrick, saidbase being of any desired construction, material, or de sign, 2 designates the upwardly converging legs as a whole, 3 the girts which extend horizontally from one leg to another, and 4 the leg braces, which arc preferably arranged to extend obliquely and in intersecting relation with each other, as clcarly shown. Preferably the lcgs,-girts and braces are of angle metal.

The legs 2 are formed of scctions of any desired length, each section being designated These sections 5 are disposcd in longitudinal alincmcut with cucli othcr, with their ends abutting, and at the joints of the leg sections, splicc bats ti arc disposcd in overlapping Itltltlull to thc adjoining sectious, as clearly illustrated in thc drawing. These splice ltu'ts i are also of nnglc mctal and their sides or angulnrly disposed mem bers are lapped upon the outcr sides of the leg sections, and rivets 7 secure the splice bars to the subjacent scctions, at the top, so that it will be understood that cach lcg section, as it goes out from .the factory. has one of those splicc bars permanently connected to it at its upper cud and projecting beyond said end for the reception of the lower end of the next superjaccnt. leg section when the le sections arc .fittcd togcthcr.

ach leg section 6 is formed in the. lower edge of each of its angularly disposed members, with a bolt receiving slot 8, the inner or upper end of each slot being round and substantially three-fourths of a circle and the entrance end or portion of each slotbcing contracted relative to the inner end thereof and extending downward to the bot- Iil tom edge of the leg section in a substantially straight formation with approximatel paiallcl side walls, ac. best. illustrated in ig. 3. In these slots 8 bolts 9 are received, one of these. bolts being illustrated indetail in Fig. 0.

I desire to call especial attention to the bolts S) and the bolt receiving slots 8 as Well as similar slots that are formed in the and braces, for in these two features the present improvements mainly reside, and these. two features together constitute primarily the means whereby the advent. eous results of this invention are secured. ach bolt 9 is formed with a threaded shank for a nut 11, and with a head 12, and the sh'iuk 10 is flattened or formed in opposite sides with cut-out portions 13 next to the head 1'2. the head being formed on its outer face with a preferably diagonally disposed rib 14 which extends in a direction corresponding to the transsersely flattened portion 13 of the shank whereby the workmen may immediately tell the position of the partially round amlflattened shank with respect to the boltreceiving slot in which it is accommodated by the corresponding posili n of the rib.

'lhc girts 3 are formed in their ends with bolt receiving slots 8' corresponding to the bolt receiving slots 8; and Similarly the braces 4 are formed in their ends with correll()lilll|l; slots 8", bolts like those illustrated Ill l ig. .3 being received in the sl ts 8' and as well as Ill the slots 8, as clearly illusiralcd in the drawing, the only difference be iug a dill'creuce in the arrangement of the bolls. That is to say, in the slots 8 that are formed in the lower ends of the leg sections, the bolts which extend through and are carried by the splice bars (tr-re arranged with their ends innermost ann their nuts outermost as indicated in Fig. 3, but the other b lts. that is, the bolts for the girts and leg braces and which extend through and are rui'l'h'il by the leg sections and the overlapping portions of the splice bars, are disposed with their heads outermost and the nuts innermost.

From the. foregoing description in conncction with the accompanying drawin it is l'a-lieved that. the operation of assemiling the parts of a derrick or similar structure embodying the improvements of this invention will be apparent. As hereinbefore stated, the leg sections are shipped from the factory with the. splice bars riveted thereto, and in the operation of assembling the parts, the leg sections are fitted one upon the other, and the. bolts 9 that are carried by the splice bars and never necessarily detached therefrom. are. inserted in the straight. contracted entrance portions of the slots 8 and then given a quarter turn in the three-quarter t'll'l'lt upper ends of said slots, which manifestly prevents any etachment of the arts until the bolts are subsequently turned ack again to a position where the slde recesses 13 will be coincident with the straight walls of the slots.

In a. similar manner, the girts and braces are fitted, over and upon the shanks of the bolts that are designed for them, and finally, when-thabolts. amjturned to their rcper lockingpositions, their-nuts 11 are tig toned up, but whether fllbnuts are tightened up or not, it is mani'iest thatonce the parts are assembled and the bolts roperly turned, the parts will be held toget or as against accidental detachment; and this is, manifestly, a most important. feature for if, for example, some of the tackle used in hoisting the. arts should catch any arts already assemble ,the parts thus caug t or entangled mi ht become entirely detached tad fall or ot ierwise cause damage to the'structure and accident to the workmen and others 'were it not for the fact that the formation of these bolts and the correlated formation of the slots that receive them, make this impossible even when the nuts are not tight. This is especially important because, in the erection of these derricks, it is customary to first assemble the parts with the bolts loosely held therein whereupon the rigger finally tightens up the nuts after all the parts have been assembled and the nuts are not tightened u on each bolt as the work progresses.

Whi e the. aoeompan in drawing illustrates what I believe to t 'e preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangements and proportions of the parts without de arting rom the scope of the invention as c aimed.

I claim:

1. In a structure of the character described, parts adapted to be secured together and capable of detachment, one of said parts being adapted to carry a bolt and the other being formed with a bolt receiving slot extending from the edge of said art and ha ing a round inner portion and a relatively contracted entrance portion, the bolt having its shank rotatably mounted in the part which carries it, and said shank being formed with a flattened portion adapt/ad to snugly fit in and pass through the contracted entrance porton of the. slot and to be turned in the inner end thereof whereby to prevent the accidental detachment of the parts.

2. In a structure of the character described, parts adapted to be secured together and capable of being detached. one of said parts being adapted to carry a bolt and the other being formed with a bolt receiving slot having a relatively large inner portion and a relatively contracted entrance portion i-\'- tcnding from the edg of aid part, the bolt l'lO Lnving its shnnh rotntabiy mounted on thepart which carries it and said shank being formed with u. flattened port-ion adapted to bnngly fit in the entrance pertion of said slot. and to be turned in the mner end thereof whereb to prevent the nceidentnl detachment. of the parts the bolt being further formed with a henci and the hem! being provided on its outer face with a rib which extends in n direction eoi'res mniling to the 10 longer axis of the flattened portion of the ho, for the purpose speelfietl.

In te.-;tinion whereof I hereunto niiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. PATRICK YORKE. W itnesses O. J. Dowmcx, F mmnm-K S. S'm'r. 

